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Retro Review: Final Destination 3

There have been so many horror films as of late then why do we need sequels as well.

Well because horror films are kings of the box office right now.

It costs next to nothing to make them and people line-up around the block to see flicks like “Saw 2” and “When a Stranger Calls”.

Why are people so fascinated with the new wave of horror films especially when 85% of them are unbelievably bad?

The FD series stretches back to the original film 2000’s “Final Destination” which was created by Glen Morgan and James Wong who created the short-lived Fox series, “Space: Above and Beyond” and contributed to the cult series “The X-Files” and “Millenium”.

The film’s plot had seven high school students suddenly bolt from a doomed airliner before it takes off and explodes. It turns out that one of the students (Ali Larter) had a vision of the plane’s destruction and freaked out. For the rest of the film, the escapees die in rather bizarre accidents as it seems like fate itself won’t let them live.

2003’s “Final Destination 2” was a follow-up to the first film finds yet another high-school girl (A.J. Cook) having a premonition of a rather nasty highway pile-up when her friends embark on a road trip.

This brings me to FD3, as I have dubbed it. This time it’s yet again another high school girl (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who has a vision of a roller coaster disaster while on a visit to an amusement park with friends. The third film also marks the return of series creators Glen Morgan and James Wong.

What makes this series so entertaining to audiences is how each of the victims is killed. The traps set out by fate remind me of that old game I used to play as a kid called “Mouse Trap” except it ends up killing some one.

I like how each of the traps are setup from basic situations in life. It’s fun to see fate closing in and how stupid people can be. The opening roller coaster sequence is probably the best sequence of the film and it has such an excellent execution.

As third films go, this film is not bad for what it is. It probably would have been better to see it go straight to video but horror films are hot right now.

I liked the performances of new-comers Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman. Winstead has the potential to go places if she can find the right projects. I also fondly remember Merriman from the 2003 short-lived TV series, “Veritas: The Quest” which I still love to this day.

FD3 is about the same as the films before it and if you liked the first two then you are sure to like this one. What else can you say about a third horror film?